Devoted to classic illustration, this magazine is, in a way, more like a series of short books, with in-depth, profusely illustrated articles about great illustrators.

While most magazines are stingy about putting their precious content online, Zimmer has made every issue of the 31 printed so far available in their entirety, online, to be read for free in full-screen.

Go to the archives, select an issue, and you’re presented with an illustrated table of contents for that issue. Click on the cover of the issue in the grey box at the bottom of the page and the magazine is displayed for you in the Issu online magazine reader, with page thumbnails at the bottom, and even the ability to zoom in to an extent (the row of dots below the thumbnails leads to additional thumbnails, the issues are long).

First I will give my Major Time Sink Warning, this is a dazzling array of great illustrators, and the articles are well worth reading; they are in-depth, well researched and well written.

Secondly, I will again point out that even the relatively high (for on-screen) resolution here does not really do these images justice compared to the way they look printed at genuine high resolution in the magazine. If you pick up an issue or two you’ll see what I mean. The current issue features J. Frederick Smith, John Fleming Gould and Clark Hulings (see my post on Clark Hulings).

Saturday, December 18, 2010

you choose the band or specific album you want and i will make a clock from that record
clocks can be made from 45s and 33 1/3 records
any record you can think of- if i can find it - i'll make a clock from it

Friday, December 17, 2010

The Survival Guide To Attraction: "You have started to crush on someone new! But, how can you tell if he feels the same way? More importantly, how do you know if you are actually attracted to him--and not his type(go HERE for types of guys)? My best friend and I have been talking about what makes guys attractive, and what makes them attracted to us, and other girls in general. These are one of the times when I am grateful for a blog to share our insights in depth. Get ready to learn some things about plain ol' attraction that you never knew before!

The Difference

Before we begin, I must explain the difference between being attracted to someone and finding someone attractive. Girls and women alike (and some guys, too) often mistake a guy finding them attractive for a guy being attracted to them. And then, they further the misconception by assuming, wishing, and hoping that he likes her back. Slow down, my friends. Let us first distinguish the difference between finding someone attractive and being attracted to someone.

Finding Someone Attractive:

In life, we will always notice attractive people. There is no overarching qualification of beauty--this is simply whether you enjoy what you are looking at on TV, in a magazine, or walking down the street.

So, maybe I am the first to tell you this, but you have to believe me, no matter what you look like: there are and will always be handfuls of people who will find you attractive. It may or not be a romantic/sexual thing. I have learned that this number increases, the more self-confidence you have you in yourself. I mean, really, would you turn you head to stare at someone who walked with their head down, staring at the ground, or someone with confidence in every step?

Confidence is a head-turner, and it always will be.

Think about all the times you find someone attractive, but would neverenter a relationship with them. There are so many, right? It goes the other way, too. Guys can appreciate how attractive you are, and neverask you out, no matter how you daydream, no matter how you like him. We forget that, constantly.

7. Continuous prolonged staring, then looking away ... and then staring some more.

If you notice, these are the same criteria that A LOT of people use when they think a guy has a crush on them. You have to realize that a guy can find you attractive, and never take it any further. None of the steps above mean that he likes you. The flirting, staring, and accidental touching only mean that he likes the way you look. Take his actions as a compliment, and nothing more.

Being Attracted To Someone:

Almost always, guys find you attractive, and under the right circumstances, they move on to this step: being attracted to you. How? He needs to get to know you. He might have his own subconscious or very conscious list of basic standards (click ME), like: does she have a sense of humor, will my parents like her, will my friends like her, would I be proud to show her off?

Questions like those above take the average guy milliseconds to answer and if he does not like the answers, he will move on to the next girl he finds attractive.

I hope to be able to accomplish the same process, but it is not quite as easy. I always want to make excuses when he does not fit into my own basic standards, like, 'Yes, he is a cheater, but he is troubled.' That is not okay. We cannot make excuses. There are plenty of guys that fit your basic standards AND that you find attractive. Go meet them and be attracted to them.

The Necessary Steps To Getting Asked Out

1. The guy finds you attractive.

2. You find the guy to be attractive.

3. He gets to know you and becomes attracted to you.

4. You become attracted to him.

5. He makes the decision to act on the aforementioned attraction and asks you on a date (or you do... either way...).

Seems pretty simple, right? Well, it is. However, there COUNTLESS ways we screw it up:

1. We don't know the difference between finding someone attractive and being attracted to them.

2. We skip some of the steps and go straight to the first date.

3. We do them backwards.

The only time it is acceptable to do the necessary steps in a random order is under these or similar circumstances:

You and this guy have been platonic friends for a while. You find him to be an attractive person, but this is not a romantic relationship, at all. Then, one day, he says he is beginning to like you as more and then asks you out. You agree, and on the date, it takes you by surprise how attracted you are to him!

Yay, happy successful relationship that lasts for eternity.

The above scenario sounds like the movies. But, it is very possible if YOU NEVER SEE IT COMING. Please do not anticipate all your attractive guy friends falling for you. This scenario is a rarity, but the best when it takes you happily by surprise.

The Problem?

This is a generalization, but I think that a lot of women ignore the first necessary step. They go for guys they do not find attractive. I have done this, but now with all the knowledge I have gained, I wonder why. I did not find him attractive. He did not fit HALF of my basic standards, and he was not attracted to me. And yet, I decided to be attracted to him and waste time liking him. The only good thing that came from it was that I was able to learn. Somehow, we are able to be attracted to guys that we do not find attractive. I do not think guys do this. Even if they no longer find someone they are with attractive, they did at the start of the relationship, and now they are left with the solid base of being attracted to their partner. It just strikes me as weird how there are more women that skip the first step than men.

Attractiveness may not be an important quality to some people, and that is good in the general sense of society and what the media tells us is 'attractive'. However, in most cases, you should find the guy you like physically attractive in your own way (not what the magazine tells you), then if you are both attracted to another, the relationship can move on from there.

This is a philosophy I've strained for years to compile. Having come from a shitty internet asshole background, I had to learn all this the hard way.

So in reading this, now you don't have to.

helped with some key points.

1) Proficiency: Delude yourself all you want, but chances are you aren't going to be the next big thing until you have the intellectual and creative weight to produce incredible things consistently.

Do you really want to be the guy who got lucky? A one-hit wonder? I don't know if you know this, but fifteen minutes of fame is usually followed by obscurity and then ideally, suicide.

But it's always because you didn't know what you were fucking doing. Something you didn't have direct control over was your claim to fame, and thus there was no way you could follow up on it.

2) Specialists: Yes, there's things you do best in relation to your other skills, but then someone walks along who does what you do better than you do, as well as everything else.

This happens because a well-rounded individual realizes that overspecializing breeds-in weakness, and hampers overall progress. You're not a specialist until you at least understand some conjoining aspects of the craft, and even then, are you really such a rad dude that you're a specialist?

Well... I guess you could specialize in being a faggot. And then, nobody would really argue with you. Faggot.

Anyway, you may have a knack for certain things but don't be an asshole. If you didn't earn the right to be good at something, you aren't. Humility, bitches. Humility.

3) Outside Opinions: When more than one layman sees a certain something glaringly wrong with what you did, guess what? It is wrong! You screwed something up. If you have to explain it after the fact, you've obviously lost the chance to explain it during the fact.

Sorry, experimental methods are not free rides away from accountability. If what you have done is technically correct but someone just doesn't like how it looks, that's different. Different strokes for different folks. Know who you are creating for. If those people get it, then you're good.

4) Creative empathy: So, are you doing it all for yourself?

Good! Understand now that there stands a chance that nobody will -get- you or what you're trying to do.

If you don't put restrictions on yourself, and cater in some regard to other people's sensibilities, nothing you say will be heard, or nothing you say will even make sense to anybody other than you. Unless you have a stroke of brilliant luck, where God himself descended to translate your babble into gossamer threads of universal truth. (SORRY NO.)

Also, the probability of you being a closed minded jerk, lording your 'esoteric' knowledge over everyone increases with every claim of open mindedness and intelligence you make. No humble person ever admitted they were humble, because they're not jerks like you are.

Working to a goal outside your interests can only strengthen your creative muscle. Why limit yourself? You won't know what you like until you've tried it out.

Art is not necessarily pretty or ugly. It bends to purpose as people see fit, but without restrictions or purpose or adequate design there's nothing to understand. So why not make make it easier on your audience and make something they might actually like, with your own personal flavor on it, instead of expecting everybody to understand your great unique vision. Because chances are they simply won't understand.

4) Porn Clause: If you draw porn, it is of highest importance that you learn your fucking anatomy: Nothing screams insane creepy psycho like someone who draws shitty porn that isn't even recognizable as human or whatever you want to jerk to, then layering weird notations about it that reinforces the fact that you yourself find it attractive. Get real you fucking weirdo.

The very act of justifying something as something it is not, demonstrates layers of insanity you obviously can't comprehend. The lines of right and wrong are blurred in your mind. You are so enslaved to your sex drive, that you will jerk to anything under the fucking sun.

Congratulations because that means you are now 1000 times more likely to rape somebody.

5) There is no such thing as an artistic qualifier: Nobody gets to decide who is and isn't an artist, and what is and isn't art. I am no better than anybody else because I do one thing versus another. (ie: Realism over anime, the current common issue.)

Do whatever you're going to do. Just don't expect to get things you didn't aim for.

6) Hating Things: Not a big deal as long as you don't drop it on the target's front door and go crazy trying to hassle him about it for the rest of his natural life. Since nobody really cares about what you think in the first place, feel free to hate away. Contention breeds ingenuity, and liking everything is for wimps who have no opinions.

Aside that, the very core of human bonding comes from shared experiences, half of which are encompassed in the "hate" classification. Just remember that the hate takes two forms... Hate that inspires and drives you on, making you careful not to emulate what you are hating on, and idle bitching which accomplishes nothing on the average, except some laugh-out-loud ("lol") moments. I definitely prefer the former, the latter usually just wastes your time.

Additionally: When you hear someone you don't personally know complaining about something in conversation with you, do not go out of your way to lecture them about how everybody should be entitled to their own opinions and that they should stop complaining.

First of all, if you say that to me I will slap you in your fucking mouth. And second, ask yourself if your self-righteous definitions of artists and artistic merit are worth championing when the most common response is an eyeroll and alienation because nobody wants to hang out with a dick who bleeds superiority on them.

I guess one might can call it a date.
I've never been on a real date.
Don't think I want to start now.
I don't date because it's uncomfortable
i'm not looking to get married anytime soon
and most people get boring
i wanna have moments
i wanna fuck and have moments
not commitments
and that is the truth for right now
----
with that said
tonight should be interesting
an interesting experiment
like a science project
or something

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

two lovers
of days past
won't leave me alone and yet they aren't there
so tonight i said fuck em both
and i meant it
i think they are both trying to text me as i write this
my fingers become cold in movement
but not as cold as my heart
they only want to keep me around enough
so they won't lose me
but
then they lose me
in the dark
in the fold
in the shadows of themselves
i get lost
only to find my own darkness
and inside my own fold
i am running away
in the darkness
is where i see myself
and i see those lovers that
i felt so much for
only they were
only part time lovers
no time friends
with nothing much to give
and less i'd want to take
both wanting me half of the time they don't
both still with the space
both still with the disconnect
both still sending me messages in the dark